One of the Last Films to Celebrate the Heroics of Battle

Rating: 9/10 (15 April 2007)

Unlike subsequent films that depicted war as hell, Darryl Zanuck's spectacular epic "The Longest Day" emphasizes the courage, heroism, and raw guts required to wage battle. Admittedly made about the last non-controversial war in which the United States was involved, Zanuck's film downplays the brutal realism of more recent war movies and focuses on the broad vistas of thousands of soldiers storming the Normandy Beaches on June 6, 1944. Employing dozens of well-known actors in small parts, "The Longest Day" effectively utilizes the cameo approach to help viewers keep track of characters in the complex cutting between scenes that depict American, British, and German military personnel both on and off the battlefield. While a cast of unknowns would have enhanced the otherwise documentary-style approach, the audience would have been lost as to who was who. Among the large cast, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, no strangers to war film heroics, register strongest, although Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Edmund O'Brien, Jeffrey Hunter, and Richard Beymer are also memorable. The bevy of rock and roll stars that includes Fabian and Paul Anka will be unrecognizable to younger viewers and illustrates the dangers of casting those with fleeting fame in a movie intended to be seen over the decades. Only one actress, Irina Demick, appears among the otherwise entirely male cast. Her credibility, however, as a French resistance fighter is severely undercut by her carefully applied makeup and perfectly coiffed hair.
The stunning black and white cinematography creates bold and beautiful images of the battle, which was filmed on the beaches where it took place. One incredible uncut helicopter shot follows a platoon down the streets of a French town, around the harbor, and into an encounter with another platoon on the other side of the town. The logistics of setting up the shot must have been awesome in the days before CGI. Although three directors were used, evidently producer Zanuck was the guiding force, and the result is a seamless film with few blunders. Unfortunately, the screenplay at times relies on expository dialog to identify characters or to set up a scene, and occasionally an obvious attempt at "meaning" creeps into such lines as "I wonder who won?" The stirring march penned by Paul Anka may be too up-tempo and enthusiastic to underscore the depiction of a day when thousands died, but the music does emphasize the producer's intent to celebrate a great victory. However, the addition of insipid lyrics over the closing credits goes too far in trivializing a weighty subject. Nevertheless, "The Longest Day" remains a fine tribute to the men who fought on D-Day and does a credible job of remaining faithful to the facts without embellishing them with the kind of fanciful fiction that marred another filmed depiction of the battle.